The popularity of aquatic activities such as fishing, water skiing and sailing has resulted in the purchase of small boats by many families and by sportsmen. To enable these people to transport their boats atop their automobiles or recreational vehicles and thus avoid the additional expense of a trailer which is also inconvenient to pull, many boat loading devices have been invented. It is a common practice to transport small boats upside down on a pair of transverse support bars or other supporting structure on the roof of a motor vehicle. Without a lifting device, the boat must be physically lifted into place by the vehicle operator and may require the aid of other people. On lighter weight boats, one person might be able to position the boat but with only one person lifting, it is possible to lose control of the boat and damage may result to the vehicle and possibly injure the person lifting.
The present invention is an improvement over the numerous boat loading devices disclosed in the prior art, and efficiently raises and positions a boat on top of a carrier without requiring any lifting or strenuous physical exertion by the vehicle operator, who can safely load or unload a boat from his vehicle by himself.
Several boat loading devices have been devised which raise or support the stern end of a boat but require the bow to be manually lifted and pivoted to rest on the boat support frame on the top of the vehicle. The invention of C. J. Shaw, U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,643 illustrates such a device which is used to raise and position the stern but requires one or two men to lift and rotate the bow of the boat to its supported position on top of the vehicle.
Other inventions, such as those by Grimshaw, U.S. Pat. No. 2,889,950 and Evans, U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,812 raise and position a boat on the top of a recreational vehicle without requiring the vehicle operator to manually lift or support the boat; however, additional specially constructed guides and centering means and a complicated positioning platform are needed to permit one man to safely raise and position the boat on the carrier vehicle. The present device only requires the inventor's novel telescoping support, used with a conventional winch an pull rope and attachment brackets to position a boat atop a standard car top support frame, and is thus an improvement in economy and efficiency.
The invention of F. J. Sutton, U.S. Pat. No. 3,435,970, is used to raise a boat from ground level to a vehicle roof in one motion; however it swings the entire length of the boat through a 180.degree. arc while raising it to the level of the vehicle roof. The present invention moves the boat more safely and efficiently and through a smaller, translational range of motion and does not require the mounting of a winch or other hardware on the front of the carrier vehicle where it might obstruct the driver's vision. With minimal hardware this invention safely and efficiently facilitates movement of the boat to or from the car top support frame as the telescoping support beam rigidly supports and restrains the boat as it is loaded or unloaded.